1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a protection structure, and an electric vehicle that is equipped with the protection structure.
2. Description of Related Art
Various devices (in-vehicle appliances) such as an engine, a motor, controllers thereof, and the like are mounted in an engine compartment (which is also referred to as a front compartment) of a motor vehicle. In recent years, along with the propagation of hybrid vehicles, an inverter that supplies an electric power to a motor is also arranged in the engine compartment. Arts that protect the in-vehicle appliances from an impact of a collision have been studied. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-38920 (JP-2009-38920 A), there is disclosed an art for a housing that is equipped with a main body that accommodates a motor, and a connector accommodation portion that accommodates a connector outside the main body. In this art, the connector is protected if an external force acting on a rear portion of a vehicle is applied to the vehicle in the event of a collision of the vehicle.